<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Any other name by Pebblesinthelake</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26868115">Any other name</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pebblesinthelake/pseuds/Pebblesinthelake'>Pebblesinthelake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr Prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Alpha and Omega - Patricia Briggs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Asil is a good dad, Gen, Roses, pruning</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:55:22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>924</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26868115</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pebblesinthelake/pseuds/Pebblesinthelake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from whatsitnot on Tumblr.</p><p>Asil teaching Kara about roses.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tumblr Prompts [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654048</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Any other name</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Quick disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about flowers or gardening, the limited information featured here was found with a short google search.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After breakfast with Leah this morning, Kara had made her way up to the only truly warm place in Aspen Creek. This Saturday was the full moon and because of that she was given permission to miss her classes. Spending the day with Asil, tending flowers had become a ritual after that first awful November. </p><p>Every month during the week of the full moon, Kara felt fidgety and distracted. She didn’t have to go to school because she wouldn’t learn anything anyway and just served to distract the rest of the class. So the Marrok had made her a deal, she could spend the days in Asil’s greenhouses as long as she was still making an effort to “develop her young mind”. Each day Asil would teach her something new and insisted that she returned the favor, though how she could teach an ancient man something he didn’t already know she wasn’t sure.</p><p>As Kara approached the building this morning she had been worried. This would be the first full moon since they found out Sage was a spy, and the young wolf was unsure how the news affected the old man. He could protest all he wanted, but Kara knew a crush when she saw one. Her worries were for nothing though, Asil acted the same as he always did while they worked in the greenhouse.</p><p>Kara glanced up at the man across the rows of bushes who appeared to be completely focused on his current task. Not for the first time she wondered how Asil could possibly be hundreds of years old. Someone might guess he was in his mid-twenties if they just looked at him. However, if you really look you can see the years in his eye, and when he speaks Kara imagines he would fit right in during the Renaissance.</p><p>The teen looked down at the task she was given most often in the greenhouse, deadheading. She knew Asil was protective of his plants and didn’t trust many to work on them. Pruning was the easiest thing for others to do and therefore the responsibility they were most often given, beginners and others alike. </p><p>“You know I do have experience with tending flowers,” Kara stated. After so long of  simply cutting off old blooms she wanted to be more useful. Recently she had been feeling the same about her life in the pack. </p><p>“Mija, do you know why gardeners practice deadheading?”</p><p>He had asked the question without looking up and his tone said that her answer would not affect the rest of what he would say. Often that was how she felt when talking to the other wolf. Asil had once told her that the Marrok doesn’t talk just to hear himself speak; after all of their interactions she learned that the same wasn’t true of the Moor.</p><p>“Will this be my lesson today? The importance of pruning.”</p><p>“You believe that your work in this greenhouse is pointless, that you can do more to help the flowers grow? You fail to see that your task is vital to the health and survival of the plants.”</p><p>Kara looked down and the rosebush in front of her and the few wilted blooms scattered around her feet. Dried brown petals decorated the table and floor all around her. All she saw was an attempt to make the plant look more appealing by getting rid of the “undesirable” blooms. </p><p>Rather than providing an answer that would just be ignored, Kara just stared at the old wolf. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, Asil diligently tending his plants while Kara watched him and waited for him to speak again. Just as she began thinking Asil may not lecture her on this particular topic, he let out a deep sigh.</p><p>“Every part of a plant takes some of the energy and nutrients gathered from the leaves and the roots. Old, wilted flowers take from the plant but do not contribute anything, in this way it is actually harming the plant.”</p><p>As Kara digested the information, she looked at the plant with new eyes. All the rose bushes in this greenhouse and the other were thriving, and had been since long before she began helping tend them. It wasn’t because of some magic that kept the roses from wilting. Asil spent the majority of everyday in his greenhouses tending his plants, every wilted bloom removed immediately. </p><p>“You see, when we cut away the draining parts of the plant, there will be more energy to feed the new blooms. This allows them to flourish.”</p><p>Silence settled over the room as Kara thought about Asil’s words. Over the past few years, she had poured a lot of energy into not only herself, but others too. Being part of a pack meant she was connected to them all, so she felt the need to help them and build relationships. Not to mention the strained relationships with and between her parents. She thought about Sage, how the whole pack had worked to help her feel comfortable and loved here in Aspen Creek. She thought of the emotional energy Asil had spent coming to terms with how he felt about Sage. She thought about her mom and the energy she spent thinking of how she could get her to come back permanently. Maybe Asil had a point, maybe she should cut out things that she had been giving energy to but receiving nothing in return.</p><p>With a thoughtful hum in place of a response, Kara returned to work.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed this! I love dad!Asil and his adopted daughter Kara! Let me know what you think.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>